Packaging material having a buffering function

ABSTRACT

A buffering material for mitigating impact applied to an article can be formed of a corrugated-paper board. The buffering material has a cut formed on a surface of the buffering material. The cut can be formed on a side surface of the buffering material, or on a surface along a direction in which a load of the article placed on the buffering material is applied. The cut can be formed by clipping the surface of the buffering material in a predetermined shape, applying a linear cutting line to the surface of the buffering material, or applying a cutting line to the surface of the buffering material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromthe prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-323265, filed on Nov. 30,2006, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a packaging material, particularly to apackaging material having a buffering material utilizing acorrugated-paper board material, or a buffering material.

Various packaging materials have been used for transporting variouskinds of apparatuses and products such as electronic apparatuses. Fortransportation of such various kinds of apparatuses, various bufferingmaterials have been widely used to mitigate the effects of an impact bypreventing vibration and impact from being applied to bufferedapparatuses.

BACKGROUND

Various kinds of buffering materials as listed below have been used.

1) Urethane or Foamed Styrene Molding Products:

A member such as urethane or foamed styrene has a higher bufferingfunction and it has therefore been widely used as a packaging materialand a buffering material. Since urethane or styrene material may beeasily formed into a desired shape, the buffering materials utilizingsuch a material are molded in accordance with the shape of the packingobject and the shape of packing box. Namely, recesses are formed insideof the buffering material corresponding to an external shape of theproduct to be packed, and an external shape of the buffering materialhas been formed in accordance with a shape and a size of the packingbox.

2) Foamed Chips:

A foamed chip is a buffering material of comparatively small size formedof a resin having a foaming property. The packing box is packed with thechips to fill the gap between the packing box and the packing object. Inaccordance with a material forming the foamed chip, the foamed chipitself may have a buffering function. Moreover, the buffering functionmay be enhanced through the gap between mutual foamed chips.

3) Aircaps:

An aircap is also formed from a resin material such as polyethylene. Theaircap may be utilized by wrapping the packing object wherein manyhollow projected areas are formed on the resin sheet. Such hollowprojected areas are capable of mitigating impact applied from anexternal side.

4) Laminated Plate of Corrugated-Paper Boards:

A laminated plate is a buffering material formed by laminating aplurality of corrugated-paper boards. The laminated plate is aimed atfilling the gaps between the packing object and packing box, and therebymitigating impact by laminating the corrugated-paper boards.

Moreover, an angled paper pipe obtained by assembling thecorrugated-paper board into the shape of pipe is also used.

[Patent document 1]

-   -   Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application JP-A No.        1994-243784

[Patent document 2]

-   -   Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application JP-A No.        2004-9174

[Patent document 3]

-   -   Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application JP-A No.        1989-105376

[Patent document 4]

-   -   Japanese Unexamined Published Patent Application JP-A No.        1992-189548

However, in recent years, it has been requested to replace the memberusing resin with the other materials in order to take consideration ofpotential harm to the natural environment.

Of the buffering materials mentioned above, a buffering materialutilizing material such as a urethane or foamed styrene-molding productassures higher buffering property. However, these kinds of bufferingmaterials also have a disadvantage from the viewpoint of disposingprocesses. Namely, when such buffering materials are burned it is likelyto generate poisonous gas. It is of course possible to dispose aurethane of foamed styrene in a way no (or few) poisonous gas would beproduced. However, such disposing processes require larger cost,resulting in the disadvantage from the viewpoint of manufacturing cost.The same issue applies to any buffering material utilizing the otherresin materials.

On the other hand, the foamed chip is a versatile buffering materialhaving higher application capability, as the same buffering material maybe used for packing of a various products from the shape thereof. Inthis point, the foamed chip is more useful in comparison with thebuffering material formed of a molding material which requires themolding process in accordance with the packing object. In addition, itis also possible to form a buffering material similar to the foamed chipwith a material other than resin.

However, in order to achieve the higher buffering effect, it is requiredto use the foamed chip in a large quantity to fill in the gap betweenthe packing box and the packing object. Therefore, the foamed chip has adetriment in that a large gap must be provided between the packing boxand the packing object, and a relatively large packing box is requiredwhen using the foamed chip.

The aircap is used in a manner as wrapping the packing object, it can beused corresponding to the packing of comparatively large kinds ofproducts with a less number of limitations on the shape of the productto be used. However, the aircap is also accompanied by a problem withthe disposing processes because it is formed of a resin material.

The buffering material using the corrugated-paper board allows recycleuse of material, and does not generate any poisonous gas even if it isburned. Therefore, it can be considered extremely excellent incomparison with the other buffering materials from the viewpoint ofprotecting the environment. However, considering characteristics of thematerials, both laminated plates and angled-paper pipes are inferior inthe buffering capability compared to the other buffering materials.

In addition, the corrugated-paper based buffering material may have aproblem in that it requires a higher manufacturing cost. Particularly,the cost of material forming the corrugated-paper board is greater thanthat of the buffering material based on the other materials.Particularly, in the case of the laminated plate, the cost thereof islikely to increase because such laminated board is formed withlamination of the corrugated-paper board in many stages.

It is an object of the present invention to achieve a packaging materialand/or a buffering material capable of maintaining a high bufferingperformance, while suppressing generation of poisonous gas when it isburned. Moreover, it is also an object of the present invention toachieve a packaging material and a buffering material which has reducedmanufacturing costs such as the material expense.

SUMMARY

To solve the above-mentioned problems, a buffering material of thepresent invention is formed of a corrugated-paper board, and a cut isformed on a surface of the buffering material.

Meanwhile, the cut can be formed on a side surface of the bufferingmaterial, or on a surface along a direction in which a load of thearticle placed on the buffering material is applied.

Further, the cut can be formed on the buffering material by clipping thesurface of the buffering material in a predetermined shape.

Moreover, the cut can be formed on the buffering material by applying alinear cutting line to the surface of the buffering material.

Furthermore, the cut can be formed on a buffering material by applying acutting line to the surface of the buffering material.

Further, the buffering material can be made of an angled paper pipe madeof a corrugated-paper board, and a cut can be formed within the angledpaper pipe.

Further, a packaging material comprising a box accommodating a packingobject, and a buffering material formed of paper in a shape of a pipe isaccommodated within the box, and a cut is formed on the surface of thebuffering material.

In addition, the packaging material further comprises a holding memberfor holding the packing object, and the buffering material is arrangedbetween the box and the holding member.

Further a buffering material having the function to absorb impact to beapplied is formed of paper, the cross-sectional shape of the bufferingmaterial has the square hollow structure, and a cut is formed at leastto one surface of the buffering material.

Further, the cut can respectively be formed on two surfaces of thebuffering material opposing each other.

Moreover, a packaging material for packing of articles may have a hollowstructure and a cut formed to at least one side surface of the packagingmaterial.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a buffering material of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the buffering material in a condition wherea load is applied onto the buffering material.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an application profile of thebuffering material of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the conditions of cutting edge formed to thebuffering material of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an external shape of the buffering materialof the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the variations of cutting edgeformed to the buffering material.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the side surface of thebuffering material on which circular clipping patterns are formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A buffering material of a preferred embodiment will be explained belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a buffering material of the preferredembodiment of the present invention. The buffering material 1 in thisembodiment is formed in the shape of angled paper pipe, that is, in theshape assembled into a square pole pipe from the corrugated-paper board.

Cuts in the shape of letter ‘X’ are formed in a couple of positions on aside surface of the buffering material 1. In FIG. 1, a plate 3illustrated with dotted lines schematically shows an article to beplaced on the buffering material 1. When the article 3 is placed on thebuffering material 1, a load is applied by the article to the bufferingmaterial 1 in a direction indicated by the thick arrow mark. Edges ofthe cut 2 are usually in contact with each other and a contact statethereof is maintained through friction between edges. When the loadapplied on the buffering material 1 is less than a predetermined load,in other words, when the impact applied on the article 3 or bufferingmaterial 1 is small, a condition where the edges of the cut 2 are in thecontact state is maintained and thereby the buffering material 1 is keptwithin the shape shown in FIG. 1.

Meanwhile, when the load applied on the article becomes larger than thepredetermined value, in other words, when a large impact is applied tothe article or buffering material 1, a load larger than a friction forcebetween the edges of the cut 2 is applied to the buffering material 1 asshown in FIG. 2. In this case, the cut 2 opens and thereby a supportingforce of the side surface of the buffering material 1 is lowered.Accordingly, a side surface of the buffering material 1 to which the cut2 is formed is buckled as schematically shown in FIG. 2. When thebuffering material 1 is buckled as explained above, the bufferingmaterial 1 (angled paper pipe) buffers the impact. In other words, animpact load applied to the article 3 or buffering material 1 isabsorbed, and a stress is dispersed in the vertical and horizontaldirections as indicated by the small arrow marks.

The size, arrangement position, and/or number of cutting edges explainedabove may be determined in accordance with the load of article appliedon the buffering material 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an application of thebuffering material 1 of the present embodiment. The article 3 as thepacking object is accommodated within an exterior box 5 (packing box) ina manner where the article is held between an upper pad and a lower pad.The upper pad is a member formed, for example, of the corrugated-paperboard covering an upper surface of the article 3. Meanwhile, the lowerpad is a member including the buffering material 1 according to thepresent embodiment. In the example of FIG. 3, a member 4 on which thearticle 3 is placed is arranged on two sets of the buffering material 1.The member 4 is formed in the shape for supporting the bottom surface ofthe article 3 and conforms to the shape of bottom surface of the article3.

Here, shapes and sizes of the upper and lower pads may be determined soas to prevent the article 3 from shifting within the exterior box 5.

A cut 2 in this embodiment is preferable, from the viewpoint ofabsorption of impact, to be formed on the surface of the bufferingmaterial 1 extending in the same direction as the load applyingdirection. In the example of FIG. 1, the cut 2 is formed in the sidesurface of the buffering material 1 as illustrated in the figure. Thedirection where the side surface is extending is matched with thedirection where the load is applied indicated by the thick arrow mark.Therefore, a load by the article 3 is applied to the side surface of thebuffering material 1. When the load is principally applied in thedirection indicated by the thick arrow mark, load and impact applied tothe article 3 can be mitigated more effectively by forming the bufferingmaterial 1 so that particularly the side surface of the bufferingmaterial 1 is buckled.

FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b) are diagrams showing the cut 2 formed in the angledpaper pipe 1, and in a condition where the cut 2 is buckled. FIG. 4( a)shows the cuts 2 in the shape of an X formed in the side surface of theangled paper pipe 1. In FIG. 4( a), the cuts 2 reaching the angledportion of the angled paper pipe 1 are formed into two positions intotal. An angle between two cuts 2 should be determined as required inaccordance with the condition with which the buffering material 1 isused.

FIG. 4( b) shows the angled paper pipe wherein the cuts 2 are buckledbecause a large load is applied on the buffering material 1. When theload applied on the buffering material 1 is large and a friction forcebetween the edges of the cuts 2 is no longer resistive to the load, thecuts 2 are buckled as shown in FIG. 4( b). In the condition of FIG. 4(b), the side surface portions of the angled paper pipe 1 are bent at theportion corresponding to each side of the square formed with the cuts 2defined as a diagonal line. When the cuts 2 are buckled, a supportingforce of the side surface of the angle paper pipe 1 is lowered, the sidesurface of the angled paper pipe 1 is also buckled and thereby theapplied impact can be buffered.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an external shape of the buffering material1. Numerical values shown in FIG. 5 are only examples of sizes of theangled paper pipe and the cut 2. These sizes depend on the shape or thelike of the article to be packed, and this embodiment is not intended tolimit the invention to the example of FIG. 5.

The cuts 2 formed to the surface of buffering material 1 are not limitedto the shape of an X, but may be formed in any shape that would bebuckled in accordance with the load to be applied, or in the shape to bebuckled to achieve the desired effect.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the cut 2 formed to thebuffering material 1. Examples described below may include any instancewhere the exact cut is not formed in fact. However, such variations arealso mentioned as “cut” hereafter.

Some conceivable variations of the cut are as follows.

1) Cut in the Shape of Slit:

In this example, a slit is formed to the side surface or the like of thebuffering material 1.

FIG. 6( a) shows linear slits formed on the buffering material 1 in thehorizontal direction. The slit may be formed throughout the horizontaldirection of the buffering material 1, or may be formed only to theparticular part on the side surface of the buffering material 1.

Variably from the slits of FIG. 6( a), FIG. 6( b) shows linear slitsformed on the buffering material 1 in the vertical direction. The slitsof FIG. 6( b) may also be formed throughout the vertical direction ofthe buffering material 1, or may be formed only to a partial area.

FIG. 6( c) is a diagram showing curved slits formed on the surface ofthe buffering material 1. Moreover, FIG. 6( d) is a diagram showing theslits in the shape of an X, which is already explained above. Moreover,the slits may also be formed in the diagonal direction on the surface ofthe buffering material 1 as shown in FIG. 6( e). As explained above, theslits of various shapes may be formed on the buffering material.

2) Cut in the Shape of Clipping Pattern:

In this example, the predetermined shape is clipped from the surface ofthe buffering material 1.

For example, clipping of triangular shapes shown in FIG. 6( f), clippingof square shapes shown in FIG. 6( g) and clipping of circular shapesshown in FIG. 6( h) may be considered. This clipping shape can also beselected from other shapes.

FIG. 7 shows an example where a plurality of circular clippings isformed on the side surface of the buffering material 1. In the exampleof FIG. 7, the circular clippings are formed in the side surface of thebuffering material 1. A circular piece 21 clipped from the side surfaceof the buffering material 1 is engaged with the circular hole 22 formedto the side surface. Under the normal condition, a side of the hole 22is in contact with the side of the clipped circular piece 21 through apredetermined friction force, and the side surface of the bufferingmaterial 1 is supported by the clipped circular piece 21.

On the other hand, if the load applied on the buffering material 1exceeds a predetermined value, the friction force between the hole 22and the clipped circular piece 21 is no longer resistive to the load,and the clipped circular piece 21 is separated from the circular hole22. Accordingly, the supporting force in the surface side of thebuffering material 1 is lowered, and the buffering material 1 is buckledaround the hole 22 from which the clipped circular piece 21 is deviated.Thereby the impact applied to the packing object article is buffered.

Here, it is also possible not to engage the clipped portion with thehole in accordance with the factor such as the assumed load and theaperture is maintained as it is on the surface of buffering material.

3) Cut in the Shape of Half-Clipping Pattern:

In this example, unlike the example of the clipping pattern, a clippingpiece is not perfectly clipped from the surface of the bufferingmaterial 1. The cut is formed under the condition that the clippingpiece is partly coupled with the side surface of buffering material 1.

In the example of FIG. 6( j), a cut is formed as a part of thecircumference. The cut is indicated with a dotted line in FIG. 6( j).Moreover, at the area near the upper end of the buffering material 1, anon-clipping region exists as indicated as a linear part.

In the example of FIG. 6( j), when a load larger than a predeterminedload is applied, the cut is separated and thereby the buffering material1 is buckled as in the case of the cut in the shape of clipping pattern.However, since the clipping portion is still partly coupled with thesurface of the buffering material 1, it is possible to prevent theclipping part from separating from the hole under unexpected condition.

4) Cut in the Shape of Folding Line:

In this example, a folding line is formed in the surface of thebuffering material 1. This folding line may be formed as a simplefolding line by pressing the buffering material 1 or may be formed tothe surface of the buffering material 1 by forming the cut in the shapeof dotted/scoring line.

In the example of FIG. 6( i), an example of a folding line formed on thebuffering material 1 in the horizontal direction is illustrated. In thecase the cut is formed of a folding line, the load is absorbed accordingto the conditions such as number of the folding lines, interval betweenthe folding lines and depth of the folding line or the like. Directionof the folding line to be formed to the buffering material is notrequired to be in the horizontal direction.

The cut may be formed in various shapes in addition to those mentionedabove.

As explained above, in this embodiment, a cut is formed to the surfaceof angled paper pipe and the impact applied to the article is mitigatedthrough absorption of the impact by deformation of the cut and bucklingof the angled paper pipe. Here, since the buffering material 1 in thisembodiment is formed with the corrugated-paper board, a problem such asgeneration of poisonous gas when the buffering material is burned isnever generated and recycle use of the member can be realized.

On the other hand, since quantity of the corrugated-paperboard used maybe reduced remarkably in comparison with the laminated plate of thecorrugated-paper board which has been used in the related art, amaterial expense of the buffering material 1 can also be reduced.

Moreover, the shape of packaging material including the bufferingmaterial 1 may be matched with the shape of the packing object articleand reinforced box and thereby the reinforced box becomes largelyunnecessarily. Accordingly, loading efficiency of the reinforced boxaccommodating the packing object article can be improved.

Here, the member used as the buffering material is not restricted to theangle paper pipe. In addition, a material of the buffering material, forexample, a thick paper, may be selected from the materials giving lessinfluence on the environment other than the corrugated-paper board inaccordance with the impact to be buffered or with the article.

When attention is paid only to the viewpoint of the buffering function,it is not required to restrict the member forming the buffering materialto a material such as paper. In the case where the material allowsformation of cutting edge is possible and buckling deformation inaccordance with the load applied, the buffering material in the presentinvention can be constituted using such material.

Moreover, an example where the buffering material is arranged at thelower part of the packing object has particularly been explained above.However, the buffering material may also be arranged in the uppersurface or in the side surface of the packing object in accordance withdirection and kind of assumed load or with loading condition of thepacking box. For example, when it is assumed that a plurality of packingboxes are stacked in the vertical direction, it is also possible thatthe load generated by the packing boxes (packing objects) stacked in theupper part can be mitigated by arranging the buffering materials also tothe upper surface of the packing objects.

Moreover, a cut is formed to the side surface of the buffering materialin above explanation and to the surface extending in the verticaldirection for the horizontal surface in the example of FIG. 1 or thelike. However, the location of such a cut may be changed as required inaccordance with the assumed direction in which the impact is applied tothe packing object. That is, in the case where the impact applied to thepacking object due to deformation and/or buckling of the bufferingmaterial can be mitigated through absorption, the cut may be formed tothe regions other than the locations illustrated in FIG. 1.

Meanwhile, the example where the angled paper pipe having the squarecross-sectional shape is used has been explained above, but when it ispossible to form the cut to the surface thereof, the cross-sectionalshape is not restricted to the square shape. Moreover, the bufferingmaterial may also be constituted, for example, with arectangular-parallel piped box material having six surfaces inaccordance with shape and size of the packing object or direction andkind of impact likely applied. In this case, it is desirable for thebuffering material to have at least a partial hollow structure in orderto realize effective deformation by buckling of the buffering material.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe present invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changeswill readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired tolimit the invention to the exact construction and applications shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be regarded as falling within the scope of the invention in theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A buffering material for mitigating impact applied to an article,formed of a corrugated-paper board; and a cut formed on a surface of thebuffering material.
 2. The buffering material according to claim 1,wherein: the cut is formed on a side surface of the buffering material.3. The buffering material according to claim 1, wherein: the cut isformed on a surface along a direction in which a load of the articleplaced on the buffering material is applied.
 4. The buffering materialaccording to claim 1, wherein: the cut is formed by clipping the surfaceof the buffering material in a predetermined shape.
 5. The bufferingmaterial according to claim 1, wherein the cut is formed of a linearcutting line to the surface of the buffering material.
 6. The bufferingmaterial according to claim 1 wherein: the cut is formed of a cuttingline to the surface of the buffering material.
 7. The buffering materialaccording to claim 1, wherein: the buffering material is formed of anangled paper pipe formed of the corrugated-paper board with the cutformed therein.
 8. A packaging material comprising: a box, accommodatinga packing object; and a buffering material, formed of paper in a shapeof a pipe, and accommodated within the box to mitigate impact applied tothe packing object; wherein a cut is formed on the surface of thebuffering material.
 9. The packaging material according to claim 8,wherein: the packaging material further comprises a holding member forholding the packing object; the buffering material is arranged betweenthe box and the holding member.
 10. A buffering material having thefunction to absorb impact to be applied, wherein: the buffering materialis formed of paper; the cross-sectional shape of the buffering materialhas a square hollow structure; and a cut is formed at least to onesurface of the buffering material.
 11. The buffering material accordingto claim 10, wherein: the cut is respectively formed on two surfaces ofthe buffering material opposing each other.
 12. A packaging material forpacking of article, having a hollow structure and a cut formed to atleast one side surface of the packaging material.